Philipsburg Manor

Frederick Philipse was born in Friesland, Holland in 1626 (his Dutch name was Vredryck Flypsen). He immigrated to New York, then New Amsterdam at the age of 21. He created his estate between 1662 and 1693, called the Manor of Philipsburg. It originally consisted of 90,000 acres and was the first industrial complex in the Thirteen Colonies.

Frederick Philipse kept his primary residence in Yonkers but constructed a Manor House on the property in the 1680s. The house itself is small as this was really a place of business rather than the residence of a wealthy man. A lot of the rooms within the house served dual purposes – for example, the bed in Adolph’s (Frederick’s son) bedroom folded against a wall when not in use to provide additional space.

Adolph was the one responsible for the great success of the mill on the property. In fact, it was so successful that its flour and meal were shipped overseas.

The success of the property came to a quite sudden end when Frederick’s great-grandson, Frederick III, remained loyal to the British during the American Revolution and fled to London. The estate was confiscated and the family disappeared from American History until the Historic Hudson Valley revived the name through the restoration of the estate.

Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow, New York

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It is the mill which is the main attraction on the property today as it has been restored to full working order with the costumed miller only too happy to demonstrate how the whole thing operates. He will also let children help him operate it.

During our visit a few years ago, the Manor house itself was still being restored but many of the other buildings on the estate were fully restored with costumed docents demonstrating and explaining the workings of this amazing complex.